Lotto New Zealand’s corporate communications manager Sarah McCormack said on the eve of Saturday night’s draw: “Everyone here at Lotto NZ is buzzing about Saturday’s $30m jackpot.”
She said Lotto was expecting around 1.25 million tickets to be sold.
Powerball was not struck on Wednesday evening and rolled over to a jackpot of $30 million.
It’s the first time the jackpot has been $30m since October last year.
McCormack said Lotto typically sees people who don’t usually play at lower jackpots grab a ticket as it climbs to higher levels.
She also reminded players that even though the jackpot is high, the odds remain the same.
“So spend only a little – it takes only one ticket to win!"
The last family to take home $30m was from Auckland’s North Shore in 2024.
The purchaser of the winning Powerball ticket brought some of his children with him to Lotto HQ as he claimed the seventh-equal largest prize in Lotto New Zealand history.
“I still can’t believe this is actually real,” one of the man’s daughters said.
“It feels like someone’s going to pop their head in at any moment and tell us it’s all a big joke.”
